At least for one day, the Yankees spared themselves the drama.
After each of their previous five wins had come by taking the lead for good in their final at-bats, the Yankees jumped ahead early Saturday and kept piling on — against a lefty starter, to boot — while Will Warren turned on cruise control.
Cody Bellinger crushed two of four Yankees home runs and drove in five while Warren dominated across seven innings as the Yankees breezed to a 13-4 win over the Royals on a sunny afternoon in The Bronx.
The Yankees (12-9) had not won a game like this since the home opener on April 3, having to grind for everything in between with nothing coming easy — including 11 of their 13 games in that stretch decided by two runs or fewer, the exceptions coming in blowout losses.
But they finally synced strong pitching and strong hitting on the same day, which made for a much-needed laugher — so much so that Aaron Judge, who had played every inning of every game, got the final three innings off — as they tried to finally break out of this early-season funk with their fourth win in the past six games.
“Obviously, these games are more ideal,” Bellinger said. “We’ve had a lot of close ones recently, had a crazy series against the Angels. Will did a great job of doing what he does and for us to get a few runs on the board, that was big for us.”
That they did it against a left-hander made it even more encouraging, after southpaws had given them trouble through the early going. Entering Saturday, the Yankees’ .535 OPS against lefties was the second-lowest mark in the majors, and they were 2-4 against lefty starters.
Royals lefty Noah Cameron offered little resistance, though, as the Yankees got to him for seven runs across four innings — keyed by a five-run third inning in which Amed Rosario, Bellinger and Ben Rice all went deep.
That alone was more than enough run support for Warren, who tied a career high with 11 strikeouts while easily turning in his best start of the season. Getting ahead early and often, he scattered three hits through the first six innings before finally giving up a two-run homer to Carter Jensen in the seventh, the only damage the Royals (7-13) had against him all day.
“It’s nice to go out there with the lead,” Warren said. “You’re not worried about giving up one or two [runs].”
The Yankees have now hit 15 home runs over their last six games after hitting only 14 through their first 15 games, getting back to the kind of offense they are built for.
Bellinger, the left-handed hitter who crushed lefty pitching last season, took Cameron deep for a two-run shot to the second deck in the third inning before adding another two-run homer against righty Mitch Spencer in the sixth that made it 10-0.
“I was joking with him, he had one homer in two months since the start of spring and then two in an hour,” manager Aaron Boone said. “So it’s a funny game that way. But a lot of good swings from him and obviously up and down the lineup. And against a tough lefty, too, so good to see the bats break out like that.”
Rice’s homer off Cameron marked the third straight game in which he has gone deep, his second left-on-left and seventh overall this season.
“He’s just continuing to solidify himself as one of the really outstanding hitters in the league,” Boone said. “We’re seeing that more and more, whatever hand you throw with.”
Rosario and J.C. Escarra both drove in three runs to help the cause, with Escarra doing so on a double and triple after coming into Saturday 1-for-15 with a single on the season.
The backup catcher got the third-inning rally started when his fly ball to the gap was dropped in a collision between right fielder Jac Caglianone and center fielder Kyle Isbel. He later put an exclamation point on his day with a two-run triple that made it 12-2 in the seventh.
“It’s just being ready — taking lots of swings every single day when no one’s watching,” Escarra said. “It’s great to catch Will and get some knocks in and ultimately help the team win.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land ’
